Saturday, May 12, 2018

The weather was sticky and muggy last Sunday evening, but Red Dot Diva felt happy to be back in Fort Canning Park for an evening of theatre accompanied by a enjoyable picnic on the lawn. She was there to indulge in one of the biggest Shakespeare in the Park productions in the region - Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT)'s adaptation of Julius Caesar. The production also part of SRT's 25th Anniversary celebrations.

In 2017, SRT called off the beloved annual Shakespeare in the Park due to funding issues, as they saw large sponsors depart and production costs rise. However, with backing from loyal corporate sponsors as well as support and crowdfunding from an ardent group of theatre lovers, the outdoor production is back in its usual venue, with a huge impressive set!

Right after entering Fort Canning's Gothic Gates, attendees were invited to climb up the stairs from backstage and to walk around the modern, "concrete-and-glass" looking Roman Piazza set. A semi-circular structure held an audio-visual display, and flags of the seven "nations" of the R.O.M.E. alliance marked the stage where the Shakespearean tragedy will later unfold. Standing up on stage with ushers who were dressed the part as government officials, Red Dot Diva felt as if she has already become part of the story.

Last year, he directed the dark comedy SRTs "Hand of God", which scored positive reviews from critics and audiences. His recent works include an acclaimed UK tour of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and his own adaptation of "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em".

Even though he is busy getting the play ready for the 2 May launch date, Red Dot Divamanaged to grab a few minutes of his time for an interview:

Red Dot Diva: How did you get involved with SRT's Shakespeare in the Park: Julius Caesar? Guy Unsworth:I was introduced to Gaurav Kripalani and Juliet Chia back in 2016 and since then we’ve been talking about the exciting potential of Julius Caesar. I came to Singapore last year to stage Hand to God, and since then have been working solidly on this production.

RDD: What is it like adapting the play for Singapore audiences?Guy:It’s a fun challenge. I was very keen to find a contemporary equivalent that would work in the international community of Singapore. There’s a lot of talk about Rome and Romans in the play, but specifically the honour, history and responsibility that that identity carries. The big question for me to answer therefore was ‘What is the equivalent of Rome today?’. More than just a literal place, 'Rome' is an identity, it’s a community, and a title which binds these people together. It then struck me that intergovernmental organisations like NATO, the UN, G7, G20 etc. carry stakes on a much more global scale. They require their members to work as a team, but inevitably alliances form and factions are made. And where better to have lots of different nationalities coming together than Singapore? So it seemed a perfect fit to set this at a R.O.M.E. summit.I was also excited by the age range of the Singapore audiences and I want the show to reach out to younger audience members. When I was a teenager I found Shakespeare very difficult to get my head into, so whenever I direct it, I'm very keen to bear my younger self in mind. It's going to be pretty fast and furious, and there are lots of theatrical surprises along the way. I want to make something which my teenage self would have enjoyed.

Monday, April 23, 2018

In Shakespeare's historical and political thriller "Julius Caesar", one could argue that the senator Caius Cassius is more of a baddie than the titular character. After all, the politician was the main instigator of the plot to kill Caesar.

Starting 2 May 2018 at Fort Canning Park,Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) will be presenting Shakespeare in the Park -"Julius Caesar", set in modern times. Two key characters in the play has been cast as females. Well-known actress Jo Kukathas takes up the lead role of Caesar, while Julie Wee - a familiar face for local viewers, having been on Mediacorp 5 TV series like "Moulmein High" and "Light Years" - will be playing the manipulative and politically savvy Cassius.

Julie is no stranger to SRT's Shakespeare in the Park productions either. She has acted as Portia in "The Merchant of Venice", Miranda in "The Tempest", Hero in "Much Ado About Nothing" and Bianca in "Othello". "Julius Caesar" will be her 5th Shakespeare in the Park role!

To get some dibs about Julie's role in "Julius Caesar", Red Dot Diva got in touch with her for a mini interview.

Red Dot Diva: Hi, Julie! It’s just a couple of weeks away from the first day of SRT’s Shakespeare in the Park: Julius Caesar. How excited are you to be finally on stage with a live audience? Julie Wee:Very excited! The audience is the missing character in rehearsals, so it's always such a relief to finally have them with us to share the story.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

In 2017, something was sorely missing in the local theatre scene. Due to the lack of funds, Singapore Repertory Theatre's (SRT) Shakespeare in the Park was cancelled.

The large-scale production held at the historical Fort Canning Park has never failed to provide memorable moments from the Bard's plays, including A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and the Tempest. Red Dot Diva has attended all of them, except for the first one, Hamlet.

Being part of Shakespeare in the Park is a wonderful and magical experience. When you are sitting out on the lawn and enjoying a picnic under the stars, one is easily enraptured by SRT's brilliant performance of Shakespearean stories that have stood the test of time.

Despite the financial obstacles, SRT was undeterred. Last year, the theatre company started a crowdfunding campaign for the next Shakespeare in the Park. Thanks to several generous supporters, SRT has enough funds to kick off the production, and Shakespeare in the Park will be BACK in May 2018! *punches fist in air!*

Friday, June 30, 2017

A musical extravaganza about the life of Empress Dowager Cixi, "Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress" will return to the stage for the 4th time at the Esplanade beginning 8 August 2017.

The SRT production, developed by Stephen Clark, Dick Lee and Steve Dexter, was first staged in 2002 as part of the Esplanade's opening. Since then, the play has another two sold out shows in 2003 and 2006. The star of the show, Kit Chan, will return in the main role of Cixi for the 2017 production.

With an epic spanning over decades, "Forbidden City" is a large set with several period costumes hailing from the last dynasty in China. This is a huge undertaking for any costume designer, and that's where talented local designer Yang DeRong comes in to the picture.

Veteran fashion designer Yang DeRong spent several years abroad working with names like Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and fashion group Esprit. He is now back home and has been involved in many high profile international and government projects, including being SG50 NDP Art Director and Costume Designer.

Yang loves the theatre, and his craft has been seen in productions like Theatreworks "The Elephant Man" (1987), SRT's "The Dresser", NUS Cultural Centre's "Man of Letters" and "Beauty World" (2016) by Singapore Street Festival.

He was also designer for SRT's previous run of "Forbidden City" in 2003, and will return to work on this year's production.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Singapore Repertory Theatre's (SRT)year-end play "Treasure Island" is not the scary sort with pillaging pirates running amok committing bloody murders on board a schooner. Rather, this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson famous book by SRT's The Little Company is a delightful, G-rated musical that will appeal to children young and old, as well as most adults, and makes for 1.5 hours of fun family time.

The musical follows quite closely to the novel except for one main twist to the storyline - Jim Hawkins (Ann Lek) has been genderbent to an adventure-loving 13-year-old girl who works at the Bentbow Inn. With Jim stumbling upon a map owned by the late Captain Flint (and the scariest pirate that has ever lived), she sets sail on an adventure to a Caribbean island together with a crew led by Captain Smollett (Erwin Shah Ismail) and Squire Trelawney (Tan Shou Chen).

Unfortunately, on board as well is Long John Silver (Dwayne Lau) who pretends to be friends with Ann Lek while plotting a mutiny together with his comrades Hands (Kimberley Chan) and O'Brien (Michell Lagos), so that they can get their greedy hands on the treasure map.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

It rained a couple of hours before showtime when Red Dot Diva attended SRT's Shakespeare in the Park last year (the play was The Merchant of Venice). As fate has it, the weather did a repeat performance again on this year's Labour Day show for "The Tempest".

The dark clouds refused to disperse even after the gates opened at about 6:40PM. As the streaming crowd settled their mats on the lawn, it continued to drizzle. At one point, the rain got heavier, and umbrellas began popping up around the field like colourful mushrooms. Yet, the crowd, hopefuly and undeterred huddling beneath their shade or ponchos, was hopeful that the show will go on.

And it did. It was a sold-out performance that night, and SRT was determined to have the show go on. Luckily, after a short prayer to the weather angels, the rain showed signs of subsiding, with the sky even offering a rainbow tribute. The open-air stage was then promptly wiped and mopped up to get ready for the performance.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Shakespeare in the Park at Fort Canning is becoming a mid-year outdoor tradition for most local drama fans.

The annual production has been successfully presented to theatre goers by leading company Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) for the last number of years. The lavishly produced Shakespearean plays performed have included "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Hamlet", "Much Ado About Nothing", "Macbeth", "The Twelfth Night", "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice".

This year, "The Tempest" (the 8th Shakespeare in the Park production by SRT) will take centrestage at Fort Canning. "The Tempest" is said to be Shakespeare's last play and one of two plays where the plot is entirely original.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

The relentless sense of sweat-inducing heat of the semi-desert region of Karoo in South Africa, was felt right from the start as the play "Mies Julie" kicked off at DBS Art Centre

On stage, which was set as a farmhouse during Freedom Day, the very capable actors of the South African State Theatre played out the intense, erotic and ultimately tragic tale about a young white mistress and her affair with her African black male servant, John.

The classic play about the battle about power and control by Swedish playwright August Strindberg had now been spiritually rebirthed in another time and space. This version makes all the swirling emotions of the story even more relevant and illuminating, as writer-director Yael Farber brings it very close to heart and home by setting it in South Africa, when apartheid ended a mere 20 years ago.

Monday, March 24, 2014

This year, the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) has announced a run of locally-made plays in their "Made In Singapore" production series - "A Wedding, A Funeral & Lucky, The Fish" (Dora Tan), "Stand Behind The Yellow Line - Garisan Kuning" (Michelle Tan), and "Rising Son" (Dick Lee).

"Rising Son" is written by well-known performer and composer Dick Lee, who also happens to be SRT's Associate Artistic Director. Unlike his other more familiar works in theatre, which were musicals like "Beauty World" and "Snow.Wolf.Lake", "Rising Son" is part 1 of an epic drama about set against the backdrop of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore during World War II.

The story spans the period of 1941 to 1945, and follows the story of a young ambulance orderly Sunny (Tan Shou Chen), and his younger sister Ruby (Seong Hui Xuan), and their lives and relationships during these horrific times.

To find out more about this new local production, Red Dot Diva posed "Rising Son" 's playright, Dick Lee, a few nosy questions:

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The historical Fort Canning Park, with its colonial buildings and landmarks, has always been a magical setting for a good Shakespearean play.

This year, the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) has continued its yearly tradition of producing Shakespeare in the Park. And this time, the chosen play is the dark, jealousy-fueled tragedy called "Othello".

With a cast consisting of British actor Daniel Francis as main protagonist Othello, and local-based thespians like Daniel Jenkins and Wendy Kweh, the updated version of the play kicked off its run on 24th April. Apparently, it has already been watched by an audience of over 25,000.

Red Dot Diva has already seen the play, and she cannot deny that the staging was indeed very grand and elaborate. But what she enjoyed most from the play was Daniel Jenkins' portrayal of Iago. The actor had given a wonderfully nuanced performance of a villain without a shred of remorse, which made him even more evil than she ever thought possible.

Director Bruce Guthrie returned to the Red Dot Island this year for the epic production of "Othello". He had also helmed the previous year's light-hearted romantic comedy "Twelfth Night" - which boasted of a gorgeous set that consisted of a beach, a mansion, a swimming pool and a visual projection of an ocean view.

Red Dot Diva got hold of Bruce Guthrie to share more about himself, and what went on behind the staging of "Othello".

Friday, July 1, 2011

Tickets for Shakespeare's "Richard III", starring the fantastic Kevin Spacey, was out for public sales on SISTIC yesterday!

"Richard III" is the final season of The Bridge Project and is being brought to our local shores by the Singapore Repertory Theatre. The play will be staged at the Esplanade Theatre from from17 to 26 November 2011.

Red Dot Diva urges those who desire to see a powerful performance by Kevin Spacey and the mix of British and American cast members to grab their tickets early. Already tickets for some of the days are almost sold out!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

She had after all bought the tickets for Singapore Repertory Theatre's (SRT) version of "Macbeth" months earlier. The play proved to be somewhat foreshadowing with regards to the General Election results, albeit via less violent means.

There is always something magical about watching a Shakespeare play in a Park. "Macbeth" is the fourth outdoor stage production organized by SRT and Red Dot Diva had previously attended two of these ("A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Much Ado About Nothing"). Both performances turned out to be very memorable evenings. So she was awfully excited when she saw the tickets on sale for "Macbeth".

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Last year, it was announced that Oscar-award winning veteran actor Kevin Spacey will be starring in the titular role in William Shakespeare's "Richard III".

Mr Spacey - who was last seen hob-nobbing with his co-stars and director of indie movie "Margin Call" at the Sundance Festival - is the Artistic Director of The Old Vic. He is involved in the Bridge Project together with friend and well-known director, Sam Mendes. In fact, Sam will be the director for the Shakespearean play.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

New local theatre production company Pangdemonium! Productions kicked off to a successful start with "The Full Monty" this year.

As a follow-up, Pangdemonium will be offering more nudity with the dark psycho-drama play by Patrick Marber called "Closer". (Red Dot Diva knows that some may already be familiar with the movie version starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Julia Roberts.) The play is directed by Tracie Pang is about love, lust, obsession, betrayal... All those melodramatic stuff. It stars Adrian Pang, Emma Yong, Keagan Kang and Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie as the four main protagonists.

"Closer" will go on stage at the DBS Arts Centre from 17 February to 6 March 2011. Tickets go on sale on December 1st on SISTIC. Remember to check out the early bird discount!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

This is the premise of the award-winning play by Scottish playright, David Harrower entitled "Blackbird".

After an earlier run for the play was postponed till September this year, Red Dot Diva and her friends have been eagerly waiting to catch the performance at our local theatre. This finally happened at the DBS Art Centre last Thursday.